Throughout the years, we have been subject to a massive superhero revival, both in cinema and on the small screen. This is right down to the massive battles and team ups that have us at the end of our wallets and pouncing with excitement.
This bodes the question, what about the regular citizens? How are their lives impacted daily other than being collateral damage or helpless? Powerless is a new show on NBC that answers that question an if off to a great start with its first episode.
The show starts following Emily Locke (Vanessa Hudgens), a lady from a small town with big aspirations and dreams to help people. This leads her to Wayne Security, an extension of Wayne Enterprises, where she is named the new Director of Research & Development. The company specializes in making items to protect regular humans from perishing between the fight of good and evil (think of it as a superhero ACME).
When she goes there, she meets Van Wayne (Alan Tudyk), yes, Bruce Wayne’s cousin that is only concerned about getting to the Gotham headquarters. His assistant Jackie (Christina Kirk) had Locke’s enthusiasm early on in her career, but working with Van has made her more pragmatic. Locke also meets her team who is comprised of Teddy (Danny Pudi), Jackie (Christina Kirk), and Ron (Ron Funches), who are at first hesitant to embrace her enthusiasm given that the company itself is not doing so well.
The episode focuses more on the quirks and jokes of the main characters with the superhero things we are used to in the background. This new team tries to band together quickly to make a product that works before the company itself is shut down by Bruce Wayne. The first episode of Powerless was naturally funny and refreshing within a slate of shows on many networks that just feature the typical superhero vs super villain problem.
It’s a show that can stand on its own without a major DC character coming in every week (although, this will probably happen in a minor capacity). With continuing the personality and the feel-good nature of the show, Powerless will have a place as something different within the superhero slate of shows.
Rating: 7 out of 10
